He said: “My client was on the way to the housing office. The baby was playing up and perhaps she responded inappropriately. I realise that two witnesses were sufficiently concerned to call the police.”

He added: “It was a young child having a tantrum. She would say she slapped her on the backside, albeit the witnesses said otherwise.”

A probation officer presented a report to the court, revealing the incident happened soon after the woman had broken up with her partner, who is the child’s father.